Windows 7. Windows Server 2008. Microsoft generally releases the MSRT on a monthly cadence as part of Windows Update or as a standalone tool. (For exceptions, see Skipped releases .) Use this tool to find and remove specific prevalent threats and reverse the changes that they made (see Covered malware families ).

Microsoft Defender Antivirus is a powerful tool that finds and removes malware from your PC. Here's how to use it in Windows 10 or 11 to scan your PC. Important: Before you use Microsoft Defender Offline, make sure to save any open files and close apps and programs. Open your Windows Security settings.

Uninstall from the Start menu. Select Start > All apps and search for the app in the list shown. Press and hold (or right-click) on the app, then select Uninstall. Uninstall in Settings. Select Start > Settings > Apps > Apps & features . Find the app you want to remove, select More > Uninstall.

DirectX is a set of components in Windows that allows software, primarily and especially games, to work directly with your video and audio hardware. Games that use DirectX can use multimedia accelerator features built-in to your hardware more efficiently which improves your overall multimedia experience. Check which version of DirectX is installed.

How to remove malware or viruses from my Windows 10 PC - Microsoft Support. Windows 10. Microsoft Defender Antivirus and Windows Firewall are on your device to help protect it from viruses and other malicious software.

Windows 11 Windows 10. PC Health Check app brings you up to date info on your Windows device health, helping you take action to improve your device performance and troubleshoot performance problems. It is periodically updated based on customer feedback to help you make the most of your Windows PC. How to open PC Health Check.

Curate your notifications. Windows Security will send notifications about the health and safety of your device. You can turn these notifications on, or off, on the notifications page. In Virus & threat protection, under Virus & threat protection settings, select Manage settings, scroll down to Notifications and select Change notification settings.

Select Device details. Select Manage in Windows Security. Select Quick scan. Tips: If you want a deeper scan, instead of selecting Quick scan in step 3, select Scan options and choose the type of scan you want. For the most complete scan, run Microsoft Defender Offline. For more about that see Help protect my PC with Microsoft Defender Offline.

In the search box on the taskbar, type disk cleanup, and select Disk Cleanup from the list of results. Select the drive you want to clean up, and then select OK. Under Files to delete, select the file types to get rid of. To get a description of the file type, select it. Select OK.

Microsoft Defender has powerful built-in features that can help protect your device against malware. Note: Microsoft Defender currently offers anti-malware only on Windows, Mac, and Android. When you first set-up Microsoft Defender on your device we'll run an initial scan to make sure you're starting off clean. Using anti-malware on your device.